Repeat Offender
by Mind Assassin
Summary: Tai LungXMei Ling pairing. Mei Ling is the greatest Kung Fu master since the snow leapord finished the thousand scrolls, but it doesn't make her happy. She feels alone in the world, perhaps the master of the thousand scrolls can change that.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Okay, I'm having a little bit of trouble writing the next chapter of New Beginning, don't fret too much though. I know what I want to happen next, I'm just not sure how to get it from my head to my computer, but until that's cleared up, I thought this might hold your attention. I found a story called In Black and White by Tribunal Wolf. It's a Tai Lung Mei Ling pairing, and I thought it was an original and cool Idea, so I decided to write my own story about it. Keep in mind that this is an entirely separate from my other KFP stories. Which means no Jai, or any of my other OCs from those stories. Mei Ling has still mastered the thousand scrolls, but she did it all on her own. I'll probably reuse names from my characters though. Okay, I think that's all I have to say for now so without further delay on with the show.

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The rays of the sun shone brightly through her window and landed upon her eyelids. They slowly began to open to the morning's light. She blinked a few times in quick succession to get her eyes accustomed to the bright sun. It had risen on another day at the Li Da Kung Fu Academy, which meant another routine day for Mei Ling. She liked her position as an instructor of the academy, but her days were mostly, uneventful and rather dull. She longed to get away from this place, travel across China, maybe even the world, fight bandits and other villainous figures, right wrongs, like her old friend Crane.

He was now a respected member of the Furious Five. He had come so far from being a lowly janitor at the academy. She was well respected too. She had graduated Li Da with the highest honors, mastered the thousand scrolls, was the top instructor, and was set to succeed the elderly Master Laoshi when he passed, but while that was all well and good, she didn't want to spend the rest of her life cooped up here. She needed to get out more, but what could she do? Laoshi needed a successor and who other than her could take that responsibility? She knew her place, and it was here, even if it did make her want to tear her fur out sometimes.

She took a bath, got dressed, and meditated for half an hour before she heard the gong that signaled there were five minutes left till classes were set to begin. Mei Ling, being the mistress of the thousand scrolls, taught the most advanced classes. Her groups were the smallest, since most students didn't even make it far enough to train under her. Most just wanted to learn Kung Fu as a tool for self defense, but those that wanted to go further, and be granted the rank of master, trained under her, once they had come far enough in their lessons.

She walked into the building where her classes were held. It was much like the training hall at the Jade Palace, save for the obstacle course. The floors were wood and bare. The walls held intricate paintings of previous masters, and of course the Furious Five. There were weapons racks scattered along the walls as well, with axes, maces, swords, staffs, and everything in between. She had six students for the time being, a rhino, a tiger, a lion, a bear, a swan, and a black panther. The lion, and swan were female, and the others were all male. They sat quietly meditating. As she walked in they heard her and quickly got to their feet and bowed.

"Master Shan Mao," They chorused. Shan Mao, that was her name as a master. Once granted the rank a new name was given to show for it. She still preferred her birth name though, Mei Ling, it sounded much nicer.

She took a bamboo staff from a rack near the door, "Good morning students, if someone would be so kind as to remind me where we left off, we'll get started."

"Scroll six hundred," Lin, the swan, told her.

"Six hundred, ah yes, crane style. It's all about using your opponent's strengths against them…" She went on to teach them the basics of the favored style of her old friend. As she taught she thought about what these students meant to her.

They were her pride and joy. They were the closest thing she had to family. Her parents had died years ago; she had no brothers or sisters, no husband, no children. This was all she had. She had often contemplated what it would be like to find love one day, entertained the notion of having children, knowing the joys of bringing new life into the world, of seeing them grow, but she also knew how laughable the idea was. She knew it was only a dream. Her duties as a Kung Fu master didn't include raising a family.

The messenger of the academy, a dove, flew into her training hall. Mei Ling turned her attention away from her students and to her.

"Master," She bowed to the mountain cat, "your presence is requested at the east gate of the village. They said it's urgent."

"Thank you," She turned back to her students, "Do some one on one sparring till I get back." She said, and then raced off to the east gate. Once there she found two very pale looking bulls waiting for her, "What's wrong?" She asked the guards.

They shared a glance, "See for yourself." One said. They led her to the holding cell within the guard tower, where they kept criminals trying to enter or exit the village locked away, till they could be escorted to a more secure location. Mei Ling looked through the metal bars and to her shock, she saw a man, unconscious on the floor. He was coated in dirt, he was bloody, he had numerous cuts and bruises, and at least one or two broken bones,in his right arm, but none of that is what startled her. What startled her was that this man, was Tai Lung, the infamous snow leopard that had laid waste to the valley of peace. She stood wide eyed and staring at him, her jaw working soundlessly.

"We saw him coming and sent for you, but when he reached the gate he just passed out. Whatta you think we should do with him?" The other bull asked.

Mei Ling thought it over for a moment, "Take him to the academy. We'll hold him there. I'll send word to the Five that we have him, Master Shifu can decide what is to be done with him." The bulls nodded and went to the task of getting the muscular and rather heavy snow leopard to the academy. Mei Ling set off to find the messenger dove to send her to the Jade Palace with word that they had Tai Lung in custody.


	2. Chapter 2

Once word had been sent to the Jade Palace of Tai Lung's capture, a reply came quickly. They said that Master Shifu himself would be coming to the academy, though the Five were needed elsewhere. Mei Ling was slightly disappointed that Crane wouldn't be coming, but there were more pressing matters to deal with at the moment. Mei Ling watched over Tai Lung. He was locked away in the basement of the academy. She sat on a stool outside the wooden door. There was a small barred window where she could see through to the tiny dank and dark room which held him. She heard a groan and stood. Looking through the window she could see as the snow leopard stirred.

Tai Lung groaned as he awoke. He remembered making it to the gates of the village, and then everything faded to black. He pushed himself up of the ground, using his good arm, and he noticed that he was no longer on the dirt road, but on a cold and damp stone floor. He opened his eyes and didn't see much, it was very dark, but there was a light coming from somewhere off to the side. He turned his head to where the light was coming from, and he saw someone on the other side of a thick wooden door looking at him through a small window, "Who are you?" He said to the figure, whom he couldn't see clearly do to the light behind it, "And where am I?" He looked around and saw nothing but stones.

"My name is Mei Ling."

The voice told him it was a woman.

"And you're at the Li Da Kung Fu Academy."

"Li Da?" He took a moment to process this, "How did I get here? I remember making it to the gates of the village, and then everything just goes to black."

"You passed out at the gates, from exhaustion I'd say. How long had you been running like that, and where were you going?"

He sat down and leaned against the wall, "I've been on the run for a long time, and I was heading back to the Valley of Peace."

"The valley? Why would you be going back there? The Dragon Warrior defeated you a month ago already. You couldn't be trying to take the scroll again."

"No," he sighed, "I saw the scroll, it was nothing."

"Then why go back?"

"Because I wanted to start over. That scroll was my whole life. Since it didn't work out, I needed to find a new purpose. I thought I'd try to work off my debt to society, turn over a new leaf, start a new life, and make amends."

Mei Ling wasn't sure whether to believe the snow leopard really wanted to change or not, but she did know that there was no way he would be able to fight her in his current condition, so she took a ring of keys from the wall and opened the door, "If you're really trying to change, then I suppose it's safe to let you out."

Tai Lung was a quite surprised by the offer, "Wait, you're letting me out, just like that? You do know who I am, right?"

"Of course I know. Everyone knows your name and face."

"And, you're not afraid? You're not afraid that I might attack you, or at least run?"

She knew him, but quite obviously he had no idea who she was, "Not at all, now, why don't we get you patched up."

Tai Lung stood and followed her out of the basement. Once outside again it took a moment for their eyes to adjust to the light after being in the more dimly lit, by torches and a skylight, basement. Tai Lung looked about as he followed her. He noticed that people would hesitate before coming too close to him, which was expected, but then they looked at Mei Ling and continued on without worry, sometimes even stopping to chat briefly with her. "You seem to be rather popular around here."

"I've never really thought much of it, but I suppose I am."

"So are you one of the students here?"

"I'm one of the instructors."

"Really? You seem a bit young to be an instructor."

"I took the role of an instructor when I was eighteen, and I've been one for the last seven years

"Eighteen, not bad. I finished the scrolls when I was eighteen, but most people don't become masters till much later."

"Well we're not like most people."

"What do you mean by that?"

She laughed a little, "You obviously have no idea who I am do you."

"Should I have heard of you?"

"Unless you've been under a rock for the last seven years, which I suppose you have."

"Yes, forgive me, but not much news of what was happening in China made it as far as Chor Gom" He finished his sentence with a slight snarl. Speaking the name of the place where he was confined as if it would bring down a curse upon him.

"Why do you think I let you out of that cell, why do you think I was there to guard you in the first place, and why do you think the people here aren't running away at the sight of you?"

Tai Lung pondered her words, "I've been thinking about those things, and I can't seem to come up with any answers."

"You still think you're the first and only one to master the Thousand Scrolls?" Mei Ling looked at Tai Lung over her shoulder as he stopped dead in his tracks.

"Wait, you mean to tell me that you've mastered the scrolls as well."

"You sound surprised. Didn't you think there'd be another after all these years?"

"Well yes, but, I expected someone a little more..."

She turned to face him, and with her paws on her hips and eyes narrowed she finished his sentence, "Masculine?"

Tai Lung stiffened.

"You didn't think a woman could be as great a master as you did you." It wasn't a question.

His eyes drifted down to the ground. She was right. The only experience he'd had with women before his imprisonment was with the female servants at the palace, or with the young women in the valley, and none of them were cut out for Kung Fu. They were raised not to be masters, but subservient housewives. It wasn't until people like Tigress, Viper, and Mei Ling came along that women were taken a little more seriously. None of the women he'd met in his younger years were as strong willed as them, and they were the ones that had influenced his views on women, not Mei Ling, Viper, or Tigress.

"That's what I thought." She turned back around and began to walk again, "Now come on, we still need to get you patched up."


	3. Chapter 3

Mei Ling sat on a bed opposite of Tai Lung while the nurse stitched and cleaned his wounds, and bandaged his broken arm. She was ready to intervene should anything happen. She didn't trust him, and with good reason. While his injuries were tended to she tried to learn a little bit more about what he was up to, and if he really wanted to change, "So how did you manage to get here, and how did you even survive your fight with the Dragon Warrior? From what I've heard you should've died."

"Well," he replied, "I can't tell you how I managed to survive, even I don't know, but," He hissed and cringed as the nurse applied a cloth soaked in alcohol to a rather nasty gash on his shoulder.

"Don't be such a baby." Mei Ling told him.

Tai Lung groaned at the remark, "But I can tell you that it blew me out of the valley, and that I woke up in a snowy mountain range. I knew I must have been a good distance from the valley because the people there didn't recognize me. Once I started back towards the valley though, they started to recognize me, hence the numerous injuries you see. I've been traveling for months trying to get back to the valley."

"You say you want to start anew. Well if that's true, then a good place for you to start making amends is with Master Shifu."

"That was the plan."

"Good, because he's on his way here now."

Tai Lung seemed legitimately surprised by this information, "You've already contacted him?"

"It was the first thing we did when we brought you here."

"When will he be here?"

"It'll take him about a week to get here, traveling swiftly, so until then it looks like I'm stuck with you." The nurse finished up with Tai Lung, "Good, now that that's done with, we should get going, I'm already late." She stood.

Tai Lung followed suit, "Late for what?"

"My class, my students won't wait forever." They both headed out.

When they arrived at the training hall where Mei Ling conducted her classes the students had already engaged each other in sparring matches, the rhino with the bear, the panther with the tiger, and the lioness with the swan. They saw the pair walk in and froze. They stared at Tai Lung for a moment, and then looked to Mei Ling for assurance that it was safe and all was well.

"Don't worry about him," Mei Ling told them, "he's just going to find a seat in the corner and stay out of our way."

Tai Lung cast an annoyed glance at Mei Ling, but he obeyed and sat down on a mat in one corner of the room while she taught her students.

She was a good instructor, and her students were diligent. They took their training seriously. They knew that being granted the rank of master was not an easy task, and that it was a great honor, and not something to be taken lightly. They also each had their own set of skills.

The panther for example was so quick and nimble, he was perfect for the style of Master Mantis. The swan was elegant, graceful, and light on her feet, well suited to Crane style. The bear and rhino were strong, Dragon style was for them. The tiger and lioness were fierce warriors, and that ferocity made them well suited to Tiger style.

The gong rang, signaling the end of class. As the students departed an aged snow leopard came into the room. His fur was beginning to turn white with his age, and while he was the same species as the Master of the Thousand Scrolls, he was much smaller than Tai Lung, and not near as burly. Mei Ling knelt down to the ground and bowed her head, showing the utmost respect, "Master Laoshi," She said

"Rise Mei Ling. You surpassed me long ago." Laoshi wore the expression of a man who had seen many things in his long life, great hardships, great loss, yet also great gain, joy, and wisdom.

Mei Ling rose, "Is there something I can do for you Master?"

"I came to talk to you about Tai Lung."

She glanced over at him, "What about him?"

"While he's here I want you to keep him under constant watch, that means day and night."

"Night?" She grimaced, "Can't we just keep him in the basement at night?"

"No, I don't trust him, and you're the only one who can handle him if he tries anything. He'll stay with you."

"Master I really don't think he would try to escape."

"Perhaps you're right, but I just want to be sure."

She rubbed the back of her neck, "Really?"

"Yes Mei Ling, really."

She sighed and looked towards the floor, "Yes Master." They bowed to each other and Laoshi departed. Mei Ling walked up to Tai Lung in the corner.

He looked up at her while resting his head in his hand, "So it sounds like you really are stuck with me."

She crossed her arms over her chest, "Unfortunately yes, but Master Laoshi is right, it wouldn't be good for anyone if you were seen without a guard."

He stood, "Well then I guess that means I'm stuck with you as well. So where did you plan on going next."

"Well," She looked off to the side, "I was planning on relaxing with a hot bath and washing the stench of sweat from my fur, and after that I have a few errands to run in the village, and then after those are done I was going to spend the rest of the day doing Tai Chi and meditating."

"Sounds fun." His words were laced with Sarcasm.

Mei Ling said nothing in reply. She just abruptly turned her back to him and walked off with him in tow. They made their way back to Mei Ling's room, as they walked she decided to lay down some ground rules, "First off, as long as you're here, you're mine, that means you do what I say when I say."

Of course, his pride would not allow him to go down without a fight, "I'm not some pet that you can just order around."

"Second," She ignored him, "I don't want you to impede my routine, so do try to keep up with me."

"At this rate, I give this relationship about forty-eight hours."

They reached her room. She opened the door and they both stepped in, "And third just stay out of my fur." She closed the door behind her.

"Bitch." He said under his breath.

She still heard him though. Mei Ling grabbed Tai Lung by the throat and slammed him against the nearest wall, "What did you call me?!"

He pried at her fingers till he could breath again, "You heard me." He choked out.

She tightened her grip.

"Alright! Alright!" he yelled with the last of the air in his lungs

She released him.

He struggled to regain his breath as he rubbed his throat.

"I'll forget I heard that this time, but next time I hear it I will remove all that makes you male." She went over to the dresser and took out her clothes, which were identical to what she was wearing, "Make yourself comfortable." She walked into the bathroom, "Oh, and if I catch you spying on me, I'll cut off your tail." She closed the door.

Tai Lung sat down on her bed and waited. A few minutes passed, and a few more, and a few more, and eventually Tai Lung began to get restless. He walked up to the door. Tai Lung, had obviously never heard the saying that curiosity killed the cat, because he allowed his inborn feline curiosity to get the better of him. He used his claw to poke a hole in the rice paper screen, and he peered through it. He saw Mei Ling rise from the waters, facing the door. Clear liquid crystals glistened off her fur. She turned about and grabbed a towel. Tai Lung didn't much care for her personality, but he couldn't deny her physical attractiveness. She dried off, got dressed and approached the door. Tai Lung quickly curled up on the bed and pretended to be asleep.

She stepped out and threw her dirty clothes onto his face, "Get up, we still have to make a trip to the village."

He removed her garments from his head and followed her out the door, thanking the gods that she didn't notice the tiny hole in the screen.


End file.
